Decred (DCR)
Unlock Schedule
Decred (DCR) Token Unlock & Vesting Schedule
The unlock chart above provides a clear visual overview of the Decred (DCR) token release schedule, showing when and how tokens enter circulation across investor, team, treasury, and community allocations. Understanding these tokenomics dynamics is critical for evaluating potential supply pressure, inflation impact, and market liquidity over time — key factors that can influence DCR price performance.
Each color segment in the chart corresponds to a specific allocation group described in the Allocations section below. Underlying assumptions and data models used to reconstruct this schedule are explained in detail under Assumptions, while broader utility insights and token use cases are covered in Tokenomics & Utility.
Tokenomics & Utility
Decred tokenomics at a glance
- Fixed supply: roughly 21 million DCR, with block rewards declining by about 1% every 6,144 blocks (~21.33 days). The final block reward is estimated far in the future, keeping monetary policy predictable. (docs.decred.org)
- Launch distribution: an 8% premine (1.68M DCR) split evenly between early developers (bring‑up costs) and a public airdrop to 2,972 participants, then ongoing issuance through hybrid mining and staking. (docs.decred.org)
- Live split: 1% PoW, 89% PoS, 10% treasury, reflecting stakeholder priorities for security, governance, and self‑funding. (docs.decred.org)
These “Decred tokenomics” give DCR a clear role in security and governance. Holders lock coins to buy tickets, vote on blocks and proposals, and earn voting rewards. The treasury’s 10% share funds development, marketing, research, and tooling under stakeholder oversight. In practice, network health, staking demand, proposal outcomes, and ecosystem growth can all influence long‑run sentiment around the DCR token and, by extension, the DCR price over time. (docs.decred.org)
What the DCR token is used for
- Payments: peer‑to‑peer transfers on‑chain, or fast micro‑payments over Lightning. (docs.decred.org)
- Staking and governance: time‑lock DCR for tickets, vote on blocks and policy, and receive rewards. (docs.decred.org)
- Trading: non‑custodial swaps on DCRDEX or centralized venues that list DCR. (dex.decred.org)
Assumptions
- Modeled continuous issuance as linear monthly within each allocation for visualization.
Real block subsidies decline by 1% every 6,144 blocks and reward splits changed at specific block heights; linear monthly modeling simplifies charting while preserving totals.
- Totals for PoW, PoS, and Treasury use Decred’s documented effective final split of mined coins.
Official docs provide effective final shares (PoW 40.34%, PoS 49.63%, Treasury 10%) over all eras; multiplied by total mined coins (max supply minus premine).
- Upper-limit total supply is capped at ~21M DCR; actual realized supply can be slightly lower.
If fewer than 5 PoS votes are included or a block is disapproved, a fraction of the subsidy is not created; docs therefore state an upper limit on supply.
- End date approximated as 2120-09-30.
Docs state the last block reward will be created in September 2120; exact day depends on block timing.
- 1. https://docs.decred.org/advanced/premine/
- 2. https://docs.decred.org/advanced/issuance/
- 3. https://docs.decred.org/getting-started/project-history/
- 4. https://decred.org/news/2022-05-09-decred_shifts_to_majority_pos/
- 5. https://docs.decred.org/governance/consensus-rule-voting/consensus-vote-archive/
- 6. https://xaur.github.io/decred-news/journal/202308
- 7. https://devdocs.decred.org/developer-guides/blockchain-parameters/